HOWDY!

I am in my second year as an Ag but, pathetically, have yet to work on Bonfire. I loved watching it burn every year growing up, and I couldn't wait to get to A&M to work on it. Now that I am here though, I have been busy keeping myself out of scho pro. Now, that I have that taken care of I really want to help out and can't wait for first cut next year. But my question to y'all is, what are some things that I will need to know as a first timer (i.e. key terms, phrases, tools, etc.) Reading some of the posts and info on the student bonfire site, I got kind of intimidated with all of the stuff that I don't know. So get me up to speed Ags...and I will see you at first cut.

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Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2007
AAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAA

This thread has some useful advice.
http://www.texags.com/main/forum.reply.asp?topic_id=362622&forum_id=14

Also, look at www.studentbonfire.com for more information.

Most of what you need to know can be picked up while you’re out there. Just be sure to wear a virgin stripe your first time out and people will take care of you.

IF you live of campus then join the HOGS. Post you’re e-mail and I’ll get you added to the HOGS list.

Damn, you beat me to it, Southpaw.

You shouldn't worry about all that stuff you don't know. We could talk 'til we're blue in the face about the terms and processes used, but the best way to learn is by doing it. That's how all of us learned.

Mr.Sandman (get me a drink rookie) Come build it next year and you won't regret it. Ever.

Hey Southpaw, go get me a tree wedge indicator with a #7 sky hook. The one with a pointed tip.

...did you get my e-mail about Otel and Skoll?




[This message has been edited by PJB C-1NRB (edited 2/4/2005 10:28p).]

I think Southpaw ment to say if you live off campus, join the HOGS.



"I'd rather chug-a-lug a mug of Budweiser Beer than drink a crystal glass of wine" [/John Conlee]

"I'd rather have a German Division in front of me than a French Division behind me." [/Patton]

You know it's been too long since Bonfire when an old man starts picking at people for typos.



[This message has been edited by brown eyes (edited 2/5/2005 5:24p).]

brown eyes that is not something to be proud of...hanging a tree means youf-ed up when cutting it down

IDMA

That tree is not hung. When the canopy hit the ground, the trunk got pushed back farther so it stayed on the base. It fell exactly where we had planned it to and was completely separated from the stump.

[This message has been edited by brown eyes (edited 2/6/2005 8:39a).]

Any jackass would know that tree isn't hung.

go back to corps woods and try not to drop any trees on a truck.

ooooppss...sorry, that's already been done.

Get a good pair of really comfortable boots, preferably steel toe. you are going to mess them up but that's what boots are for! I think somewhere in there it tells that you need a pot(can be picked up at sarges, good idea to get the liner too). Oh yeah, when somebody says headache at cut look around and be ready to run, if they say it at stack don't look up.

oh and one last piece of advice, don't get your head pinched in stack, it hurts!

Build The Hell Out'a Bonfire!

If he goes out with Hogs, he won't need to buy a pot. He will just need to show up to paint one.

[This message has been edited by brown eyes (edited 2/7/2005 10:55a).]

Sandman23@tamu.edu

Add me to the HOGS, thanks for all the input guys. I can't wait.

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Fightin' Texas Aggie Class of 2007
AAA-AAA-AAA-AAA-AAA

Whoop.



CTs Build Bonfire.

Whoop! 1 person closer to pulling 100% I think we're on track. You can get boots at sarge's to. Cheap and built to last.

wasnt it a BQ that fell the tree on the truck and not a turd?

Go to the student bonfire website and subscribe to the listserv and you can be kept in touch with what is coming up and stuff you'll need to know. If you want to get a head start, we are doing stuff this semester to fundraise.

Sadly now it's not only just about Bonfire in the fall. We're all picking up the slack.

Funny.... it sure looks hung to me...

Hung on what? The ground?

Doesn't look ready to be topped to me...





"And even now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire." -Matthew 3:10

Definatly not ready to be topped...

it was ready to be topped about five min later. :P

It's a good thing all of y'all were there and can tell me how stupid I was not to realize it was hung.

But just out of curiousity, what makes it look like it's nto ready to be topped?

[This message has been edited by brown eyes (edited 2/16/2005 9:31a).]

I would circle it if I could...

The fact that the trunk IS (appears to be) RESTING on the stump. Looks like someone needs to learn a little overhand technique, and **** that log off its stump...

The trunk was resting on the stump. That alone makes it not ready to be topped.

I wouldn't call this a hung tree, though. The bigger trees quite often stay on the stump if the branches in the top are big enough and spread out enough to slow the fall as it comes down. Especially if they catch on some highports as it falls. (I seem to remember someone out there that day suggesting to clear that area, but they were considered crazy old farts cutting unnecessary trees.) Unless you beaver cut it and just let it fall where it will. That'll just about always bounce it off the stump. But, there was a good hinge in that wedge to try and help direct the fall. I know that is a foreign concept to several of the dorms out there, though.

BTW, Sith, they don't allow any overhand out there anymore.

Scott Coker '92/'95

I seem to recall spending quite a bit of time clearing more area. In fact, I recall having to stop swinging axe on the monster in order to faciliate clearing in its path. Your memory is fuzzy, old man.

[This message has been edited by brown eyes (edited 2/17/2005 1:44p).]

For Sandman's benifit (and mine too for that matter) would someone who has/had a pretty colored pot please define a "hung" tree?

As I understand it, a "hung" tree's treetop never touches the ground and that picture looks like it is on the ground to me.

I remember (back in '90 or '91) a lovely log, a bit smaller than that, come off the stump and stand straight in the air in Aston's woods. Every senior red came by to laugh at us and every junior ran by trying to figure out the best way to get it down. Good times.

I have always equated the word "hung" (in Bonfire terms) with a former tree that, after having a front and back wedge meet, does not fall parallel to the ground because it's canopy is caught in another tree, vines, etc..

Just because a log's base is stil on the stump does not mean that it is "hung." It just needs to be cleaned up and pushed off it's stump. A log that is resting on it's own stump is not a safety issue and is not a reflection of poor woodsman's skills.

A "hung" tree, as described above, is a safety issue and something that can be avoided. "Hung" trees often require chainsaws, ropes, meat, and lots of attention to keep them from falling on someone or pulling another (possibly dead) tree (that the log is caught on) on top of a person. Logs, like the ones pictured above, are not hung. Describing logs like this as "hung" is new army and serves to confuse brown-pots.

"Didn't clear the stump" and "didn't hit the ground" are two different situations that don't need to have the same name.

My sophmore year we had a double cut rained out and all week long it had continued to rain, preventing chainsaw parties. The following Saturday there was a "half-cut" that was more of a glorified chainsaw party than a real cut (there was an evening football game, but the reds really wanted to go some wood on the ground). Some dorms didn't show, very few brought any fish, I don't think that there were any CT's there.

We only took the chiefs, a few deads and a few (non-freshman) randoms. It was a pretty light day and not a lot got accomplished but we had one tree that when it started to fall, it just hopped off the stump and replanted, almost vertically. It was hung on a couple of trees behind it despite a very aggressive front cut.

Due to the fact that we weren't planning on working too hard, we didn't bring our rope into the woods. We borrowed one from a brown, but the log was so deeply replanted (due to the soft ground) that we couldn't pull it out. One of the jrps came into our woods and was also stumped as to how to solve the situation.

We ended up sending one of my buddies up the tree with the rope and he looped it around up near the canopy. He climbed back down and we used the new angle to yank it down out of the trees it was hung in. We all gave it one big pull and ran like hell.

Definately one of those "see no evil..." kind of situations. It had to get down and we didn't really have any other options.